title: Enhanced photodegradation of methyl orange with TiO₂ nanoparticles using a triboelectric nanogenerator.
abstract: Methyl orange (MO) can be degraded by a photocatalytic process using TiO₂ under UV irradiation. The photo-generated holes and electrons can migrate to the surface of TiO₂ particles and serve as redox sources that react with adsorbed reactants, leading to the formation of superoxide radical anions, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals involved in the oxidation of dye pollution. Here, we fabricated a polytetrafluoroethylene-Al based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) whose electric power output can be used for enhancing the photodegradation of MO with the presence of TiO₂ nanoparticles, because the TENG generated electric field can effectively boost the separation and restrain the recombination of photo-generated electrons and holes. Due to the photoelectrical coupling, the degradation percentages of MO for 120 min with and without TENG assistance are 76% and 27%, respectively. The fabricated TENGs have potential applications in wastewater treatment, water splitting, and pollution degradation.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Yuanjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Ya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hulin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yannan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Zhiming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yadong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fukata
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.forename: Zhong Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004867:Equipment Design; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation; D010782:Photolysis; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; C100258:methyl orange; D014025:Titanium